Maroon Rebellion

The Maroon Rebellion (1731-1740) was a series of uprisings across the Caribbean by the maroons (coming from the Spanish word "cimarron", meaning a fugitive, runaway, or feral animal) against the major colonial powers of Great Britain, France, and Spain. The maroons were runaway plantation slaves who fought for independence against their slavers, fighting on both land and sea.

Background
Starting in 1665, the "maroons" (coming from the Spanish word for "runaway", "cimarron") fought against the rule of England over the island of Jamaica. The Maroons would hide in easily-defended caves or ravines and would sound hunting horns whenever the British neared them; the Maroons ambushed the British army and held them off for nearly one hundred years.

However, in 1731 maroon discontent with British rule reached its climax, triggering an uprising from many maroon hideouts in Jamaica. Soon, the slave uprisings spread to Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), where the Kingdom of France stored all of their slaves. Governor Pierre de Fayet was faced with an uprising led by Augustin Dieufort, who rescued slaves and formed a large army.

War
In 1735, after years of guerrilla fighting, the French located the maroons' main hideout on Saint-Domingue, and threatened to reveal their positions. The former quartermaster of pirate Edward Kenway Adewale rushed to the aid of the slave rebels and assassinated the Overseers who located the hideout, preventing them from notifying the French Army. Adewale linked up with Dieufort, and the two worked togehter; Adewale captured the French slave ship "Experto Crede", and used it to attack French, Spanish, and British slaving ships in the Caribbean. Adewale gained crew members and maroon recruits by capturing slave ships, freeing slaves from caravans, and saving them from auctions.

In 1737, Governor De Fayet realized that the Maroons aimed to rescue slaves from slaving ships, so he ordered the French Navy to destroy all slave ships that "Experto Crede" intended to save, killing hundreds of slaves and nearly killing Adewale. Adewale and Dieufort planned to assassinate De Fayet, and they were able to kill him in Saint-Domingue, ironically with a branding iron.

Just three years after the assassination of De Fayet, Great Britain was forced to recognize the rights of their maroon subjects, agreeing to grant them the enclaves of Accompong, Trelawny Town, Moore Town, Scots Hall, and Nanny Town. In Saint-Domingue, there would be slavery until 1792, and French rule until 1802.